Poster #101 - Sibling Relational Aggression: Developmental Change and Associations with Family Relationship Dynamics in Adolescence

• In Event: 2-055 - Poster Session 06
  In Poster Session: PS 06 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Sibling relational aggression is an understudied and covert sibling relationship dynamic in need of greater attention within the broader family unit. Research on this topic suggests longitudinal implications of sibling relational aggression on adolescents’ psychosocial functioning (Gallagher, Updegraff, Padilla, & McHale, 2018), and highlights the mediational role of sibling relational aggression in the links between parents’ psychological control and adolescents’ adjustment problems (Campion-Barr, Lindell, Greer, & Rose, 2014). However, less is known about developmental change in sibling relational aggression, and the associations between sibling relational aggression and family relationships in adolescence. Toward this end, the goals of this study were twofold: (a) to examine developmental change in sibling relational aggression across adolescence using longitudinal data from sibling pairs spanning early to late adolescence; and (b) to investigate the associations between family relationship qualities, including intimacy and conflict in the mother-adolescent, father-adolescent, and sibling relationships and sibling relational aggression longitudinally. Moderation by sibling gender, birth order, and dyad constellation also were examined. Drawing on family systems theory (Cox & Paley, 2003), which suggests that family dynamics are best understood when examined holistically, and prior research suggesting that sibling relational aggression has negative consequences for adolescent development, it was expected that siblings’ experiences of relational aggression would spill over to other family relationships and be associated with less intimacy and greater conflict with their family members.
Data came from three waves of data (W6-W8) of a larger longitudinal study of 203 sibling pairs who were predominantly European American, recruited in middle/late childhood, and followed into young adulthood. Older and younger siblings were 16.47 (SD = .80) and 13.88 years (SD = 1.15) of age at W6, 17.34 (SD = .80) and 14.77 years (SD = 1.16) at W7, and 18.38 (SD = .78) and 15.78 years (SD = 1.13) at W8, respectively. During in-home interviews at each wave, older and younger siblings rated their experiences of sibling relational aggression (e.g., “[Sibling’s name] tries to hurt me by calling me names and making fun of me in front of other kids”; O’Brien & Crick, 1995); ratings of sibling, mother, and father intimacy (Blyth, Hill, & Thiel, 1982) and sibling, mother, and father conflict (Smetana, 1988; Stocker & McHale, 1992) were also collected at each wave from mothers, fathers, and both siblings.
Addressing the first goal, longitudinal growth models revealed a significant linear decline in sibling relational aggression across adolescence with no moderation by sibling gender, birth order, and sibling dyad constellation. Multilevel models revealed that sibling intimacy was negatively and sibling conflict was positively associated with sibling relational aggression (at the between- and within-person levels; see Model 1a and 2a). Models also showed that both mother- and father-adolescent conflict at the within-person level was associated with sibling relational aggression, but only father-adolescent intimacy was related to relational aggression at the within-person level. However, some of these effects were moderated by sibling dyad characteristics (see Model 1b and 2b). Discussion addresses the implications of these findings on adolescent and family functioning.

Authors

• Annabella M Gallagher, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Updegraff, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jenny Padilla, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Susan M. McHale, The Pennsylvania State University
  Non-Presenting Author